Tractor hitch



Patented Nov. 14, 1922.'.

F. M. BLMN. TRACTOR HITCH. APPLICATION FILED DEQ- 23. 1921.

/l ,ff/f

.IrIIIIllII alNvi-:NTOR Floyd M z draft riggingv of the characterstated, a`

Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

TRACTOR 'HITor-r. l

i. appli-cation 'mea December 23,1921. speriamo. 524,497 i ,y

T o all whom t may concern.' j 'f j Be it known that I, FLOYDy M.BLA1N,`a citizen of the United States,-residing "at Cntral Point, inther county vof Jackson andState of Gregori, have 'invented a new andImproved TractonHitch, vlofjwhich the following isl a specification.This invention has reference to improvements in draft rigging fortractors andthe like and it is more particularly designed to provide'adraw bar attachment or' hitch for connecting trailers onto the rear end'of a well-known type of tractor and whose cooperating parts are solarranged and combined whereby the draw. bar or hitch may beconveniently and quickly'adjusted by the tractor driver from thetractory seat lfor positioning the trailer, for tracking in a directline with the tractor, or to cause it to follow the tractor in offsetrelation therewith, as conditions may make desirable'.y

Another object of my invention is to provide a draftv rigging of thegeneral charac` ter stated, in which is included a main draft bar.adapted for being coupled vonto tghe usual draftlug on the tractorbody, and a supplemental draft member' with which the trailer ortrailers are connected and which is .pivotally mounted upon the maindraft bar or member to oscillate in lateral direction to provide forpositioning the trailer or trailers at an offset with respect to thetractor, and meansconveniently operable by the tractor driver adaptedfor cooperating with the said supplemental draft `member for vlockingsuch supplemental member to either of its laterally adjusted positionsrelatively'to the main draft bar and tothe tractor. 1

Again vmy invention comprehends,` in a main draftl bar composed of twomembers whose outer ends are separated forreceiving a supplementalldraft member pivotally connectedy'to'the rear 'endv ofthe main draftbar and adapted/for lateral` adjustment relatively to such bar,.a leverrelease detent de'.- vice located between thetwo members of the ldraftbar that automatically-moves intoint'erlocked 'engagement with thesupplemental draft member for holdingitfto set posi-` tions,`and apeculiararrangement ofl break pin connection on the'pullend of the maindraftbar that includes .means for, holding the two'members thatconstitute the main draftk bar yand-the detent devices y:mountedthereonas-a rigid unitary draft member.

With the above objects in view, mypresent invention comprehends` animproved construction oftractor hitch that embodies the no vel featuresofconstruction and combination ofparts'fully set forth in the yfollowingdetailed description,y specifically stated in the appended` claims andvillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: y 4 Figure l is 1aplan view ofmy improved tractor hitch so much of a tractor and atrailerpbeing indicated to illustrate the practical application of mylinvention, the hitch and the trailer being indicated in full lines atone of the offset positions and in vdot `and i dash lines at` anotherand oppositely dis- Vsupplemental draft member being in they midwayposition and adapted for pulling the trailer in direct longitudinalalignment withy the hitch or draft bar.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of my improved tractor hitch, theparts being arrangedas in'Figure 2. y l 't Figure 4 is a detail planview of the pull end of one of the members that constitutetheMmain-draftbar and the clevis `member that rjoinsl the draft bar tothe tractor 'draft' stud, the parts being 'separated to indicate thearrangementof the break pin apertures and the slot'waysl` in thetwofmembers.-

In the practical fdevelopment `:of my present v'invention the hitch i orrdraft bar that couples" with the tractor, and toywhich the plow orother trailing implement or machine is connected, consists ,of a, linkor draft member composed of two barsV 1-1 of like width andlength,vwhoseropposite i ends are bent' inwardly toward each other to bringthem sufficiently close together\,to snugly receive a.supplemental'draft',mem ber 2 (presently further described) between thevouter endsV 10 ofthe bars 1*:1, Vand to receivea clevis or pull member'between the inner ends l0a ofthe said ,members I l, as is clearly shownin Figures2 andB of the drawings; by reference'to which :it will benoticed that ythe clevis `or pull member includes a ring shaped head 2Ovadapted for hooking onto the usual draft stud 30 on the rear e'n'd ofthe tractor', as shown.

The supplemental draft membery 2 mentioned includes a flat cross portion21l that is provided with a pivot aperture 21a located midway its ends23. The ends 23 of the member 20 merge with a substantiallysemi-circular shapedmember 22 whose outer edge is formed into asegmental rack 24:. rllhe member 2 is held flatwise between the outerends 10-10 of the bars 1-1 which constitutes the draft or hitchconnection and the said member 2 is pivoted on a stud pin 3 that takesthrough apertures 10P- 10h in the bar endslO-l() and through theaperture 21a in the cross portion 21 of the supplemental draft member,as best shown in Figure 3.

By referringto Figures 2 and 3, it will be readily apparent that thesupplemental draft member 2 is mounted between the bars 1,1 to oscillatein the horizontal plane, laterally with respect to the main draft orhitch bar, so that the line of draft on the plow or trailer beam 5 bepositioned at an offset, thatr is, to either side of Aa line of draft indirect longitudinal alignment with the draft stud 2 on the rear end ofthe tractor.

6 designates a detent or lock pawl which is in the nature of a rod whoseouter end is shaped for snugly fitting within the ratchet teeth onvtheadjustable supplemental draft member 2.' y The detent rod 6 is normallyforced to its rack engaging position by a stout coil spring 7 that ismounted around the rod 6 with its inner end seating against a verticalbearing 8 secured between the bars 1-1 and its other end against awasher 12 that is attached to the rod, as is best shown in Figure 3.

13 designates clevis members which are attached to the adjustable draftmember 2 and are' adapted for connection with the draft beam 5 of theplow or other trailing implements, as is clearly shown invFigure 1.

The inner ends 10a of the bar members 1 are each provided with a breakpin receiving aperture lll and an aperture V16located inwardly of theaperture 14 and a bifurcation 17. l

lThe clevis device1 that fits between the ends 1O1Oa of the bar members1-1, has a central break pin receiving aperture 25 and an aperture 26,it also having abifurcaa tion 17?', 'as shown.

The several apertures and bifurcations in the two ends 10a and in theclevis device are so spaced (see Figure et) that when the clevis deviceis lit between the ends 10a- 10a the several apertures register and thebifur- 10m-102L of the bar members 1 1 and the f clevis device providesa simple and effective way for joining the main draft bar and theclevisby a wooden break pin 27 that fits the vertically aligned centralapertures in the ends 10a- 10a and the clevis end, as is .best showninliigure 3,by reference to which it will be noticed that thearrangement of the several parts stated is such that a cheap buteffective provision is made for holding the clevis device in rigidconnection with the draft bar and at the same time permit the readyseparation of the hitch or draft bar when the break pin 27 breaks, sincethe bifurcated ends y10a pull away from a clamp screw 28 that fits downthrough thebifurcal tions in the ends .lOfL--lfla and engagestheaperture 14 in the clevis, the screw passing out from its engagingbifurcations with the clevis device as its bifurcated ends pull awayfrom a clamp screw 29 that fits through the aperture 16 in the upper endportion 1()a and through the bifurcation in the clevis, and the aperture16 in the lower end portion 10, the screw 29 pulling out from the cleviswhen the clevis device andthe draft bar separate.

31 designates a hand lever which projects upwardly from the main draftor hitch bar to a point for being conveniently grasped by the operatoron the tractor seat. The lever 31 is ypivoted on the upper end of thedraw bar andhas its lower end projected through a slot 19 in such barandconnected with the front end of the detent rod 6J the connection beingsuch that when the lever is swung in the ldirection indicatedv by thearrows .a on the drawings, the main and the supplemental draft members 1and; 2 are released from their rigid connection and are left free toflex laterally with respect to each other until the reach bar and thetrailer assume a desired position relatively to the tractor when, byreleasing the lever 31 the ydetent rod 6 willyinterlock with the rackface of j the'member 2 and thereby restore the several parts, toassumaasit were,ra rigid hitch bar unit,thatfis,-a rigid connectionbetween the tractor and the trailercapable of swinging laterally fromthe trailer lug and free to follow and .pull the trailer along as thetrailer travelsforward with .the tractor free to accommodate itself `tothe vibrations of tractor'travel.- j j The construction of;l my tractorhitch is such thatf'it may be readilyrmade .by a skilledblacksmith and.without the need of special machinery and tools inthe making thereof.

ln my construction of tractor hitch, the

clevis connection at the;` frontendfis such,"`

forward with the tractor. -,Thus, should a plow or a gang of plows betrailing and any i separation'of the hitch bar from the trailer.y

one or more of the plows become stalled lby reason ofv engaging rocks orroots, the parting of the break pin would lpermit instant 'F rom theforegoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing,I the complete construction, the 'manner of its use and theadvantao'es of m invention will be readily apparent to those familiarlwith n scribed.

tractor hitches of the type shownandl delVhat I claim is I v f y l. ln adraft rigging of the class described, a main draft bar comprising two asupplemental ring-like member pivoted between vthe other ends of saidplates and lying projected between them, said supple# mentalmemberhaving a rack edge, spacing lugs between said plates,said spacinglugs being located at one side of the rack edge, -a spring pressed pawl-reciprocably vmounted in said spacing lugs to engage; said rack, one ofsaid plates having a slot and a` pair of ears, a lever projected throughsaid A'slotland fulcrumed in said ears, said lever and saidv pawl havingfinger and slot engagement whereby said vpawl may be withdrawnby`movement of said lever, saidv supplementalv member having means forconnecting with thedraft beam of a plow or other-trackingy machine, allbeing arranged .substantially as shown and for the purposes described.

"prisingf two Lflat'A members spaced*v apart,"` fa of thecharacter'described, 'the' combination with the 'forward end of thehitchfbar, said fend comprisings'eparated top and bottom' `membershaving two sets'offaligninglapery2. Ina clevis connectionl for tractor`bitches i i tures and 'a set; ofbifurcated ends; of a clevis devicehaving `an apertured headkv for pivotally connecting with thehitchingstud 50.;l

ofa` tractor, and'havingftwo-l sets of` apen.v

tures andfa bifurcated endltoalign with 'the' apertures pandbifurcateden'dsof the a v.break pin lpassing through an aligning'. vset ofapertures in the hitch bar*y and clevisfdel vice for locking'thehitchbar andclevis tojgether,-. and bolts cooperative'with the othervapertures and bifurcations of the top and4 bottom members of thehitchfbarandthey lagainst :lateralmovementand in rigid rela'-` jVtio'n'to the draftlbar; 1 parallel plates, a 'clevis secured betweensaidv yplates at one end and spacing the same apart,

clevis device'for holdingsaid'clevis Adevice clevismheld betweenthetwofvflatybar mem- ,npper and lower membersof the hitch bar,` i i 3. Indraft rigging, av main draft barl'coml- "u i.

bers at one end,ay ringflike supplemental member lying between saidbarimelmbers at vvthe other end, a pivot passing through said j yotherend of said bar members and ,through ksaid supplemental member', saidsupplemen-V tal'member including a rack edge lying be-I tween theopposite ends of said main draft" i bar, a spring pressedlatch locatedbetween said .bar members and engaging said' rack,y

a lever mounted on one of the at bar mem-` bers of said main draft barand projecting through an aperture' in said Hat bar mem-j` 7 i i ber'`and engaging said latch,` and means y'to connect said supplementalmember` :tothe beam of a trackingelement.v

" FLOYD

